Inked Girls: Kiley Quinn Stevens

The design and themes of my tattoos: My willow tree tattoo was done freehand. It is black and gray, and represents beauty. My Calvin and Hobbes tattoo is a cartoon design, and brightly colored. It represents youth. My "forever" tattoo was a pairing I did with my best friend, who got "always" tattooed in the same place. It is in script, and it represents our friendship. Lastly, the tattoo on my ankle holds a special place in my heart. It is a Scooby Doo collar, cartoon style, for my friend Danny, who passed away in December 2011. His nickname for me was Scooby. It is in his honor, and my way of remembering him always.

My favorite tattoo and the story behind it: My favorite tattoo is of Calvin & Hobbes, the old comic strip. It's of Hobbes, the tiger, tackling his pal Calvin after coming home from school. My dad and I both love Calvin and Hobbes. When I was a freshman in college, I was feeling particularly homesick, missing fall in the Adirondacks and the comforts of home. My dad mailed a package to school, a box full of Calvin and Hobbes comic book collections. All of them. Reading those comics made it a lot easier for me to transition into college, and made growing up seem not so scary. The tattoo is a reminder to always stay forever young, no matter what.

My next tattoo: My next tattoo is going to be a half sleeve, incorporated with my Calvin and Hobbes tattoo. As a writer, a journalism major and the child of two journalists, ink is in the veins. I've decided to create a faded, crumpled, newspaper design as a backdrop, in black and gray (since the only time the comics are in color is on Sunday), around the top of my right arm. From my shoulder to the crease of my elbow will be a feather pen, also black and gray, and very detailed.